We forget so many important things. We forget the name of the person we just met. We forget where we left our keys. We forget what day the rent comes out of our checking account. We forget whether we’ve had a tetanus booster recently (though I always seem to remember having it more recently than I actually have). We forget birthdays, anniversaries, special occasions. We forget to write letters. We forget to put a check in the mail. We forget to pull our clothes out of the dryer, and then they get all wrinkled. We forget (admit it, you’ve done it) to brush our teeth before bed. We forget to put on deodorant. We forget to pray before meals. We forget to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. We forget our cell phone numbers. We forget to reply to that text we received when we were at work. We forget whether Kathryn Russell was our fourth or fifth grade teacher. We forget the exact wording of our favorite passage of scripture. We forget which Wesley was the hymnist. We forget how to drive in the snow. We forget to return library books. We forget to check the air in our tires. We forget, we forget, we forget.

We forget so many things. And yet, when it comes to the things we need to forget (more for our own sakes than anyone else’s), we can’t do it. We can’t forget the harsh word someone spoke to us forty years ago. We can’t forget how hard it was to grow up without one of our parents. We can’t forget the time someone stole from us–money, purity, time. We can’t forget the person who cuts us off in traffic or in line at W@lmart. We can’t forget that one time we lent money to someone and they never paid us back. We can’t forget when someone snaps at us, argues with us, or makes us feel insecure.

This is on my mind today because I am remembering a person and a situation that I honestly thought I’d let go of. So tonight, my prayer is that Christ would continue to recreate me into His likeness and character, that He would teach me to forgive, that He would teach me to forget.

4 Responses to Forget About It

Well, Sarah – We are enjoined to have the mind of Christ by Paul who asks his followers to copy him. To the Philippians he says : “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…” Are we therefore to adopt our God’s habits and policies as well? Yes, I believe so.

The phrase “…their sin I will remember no more.” Is found in Jer 31:34, Isa 43:25, Heb 8:12 & 10:17. Matthew Henry says of Mic 7:19 “When God forgives sin, he takes care that it never shall be remembered any more against the sinner. He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”

I know that at the “judgment seat of Christ,” his blood has washed all my (confessed) sins away, and that they are therefore invisible to God. What a joy !

Recently I found no support in our congregation regarding the issue of forgiving and forgetting. You really rang my bell here. I did mention that the older I got the easier it was to forget stuff. However, my heart is at peace when I can look into another’s eyes and see only the positive qualities and favorable memories, not the short comings and offences. It certainly makes for a closer fellowship.

Unless I misunderstand this verse, however, we have the other side of the coin. Jer 14:10 Thus says the LORD to this people: “Thus they have loved to wander; They have not restrained their feet. Therefore the LORD does not accept them; He will remember their iniquity now, And punish their sins.”

It seems they repented of their repentance. Judah’s sins caused God to recall their previous behavior – they paid for that backsliding.

While punishment does not lie with us as individuals, perhaps caution regarding repeat offenders is in order. “The Church” as a body does have this responsibility as we know.

As always, Dave, you offer wonderful perspective. I have been chewing on this idea of “caution regarding repeat offenders,” particularly in context of the passage here Christ tells us to forgive “seventy times seven.” It must require discernment. There is certainly a difference between someone who keeps stumbling over the same matter, and someone who willfully chooses to continue on a destructive, sinful path. Right?

“There is certainly a difference between someone who keeps stumbling over the same matter, and someone who willfully chooses to continue on a destructive, sinful path. Right?”

While there are eight verb Koiné Greek words for “know” there is basically only one for “judge.” Stgs #2919 – krino. Therefore we must go to the context to understand the intended meaning.

Below it means to pass judgment – condemn – God’s right, not ours !

We are instructed by Christ in Mat 7:1-2 “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”

“Judge not (mē krinete). The habit of censoriousness, sharp, unjust criticism. Our word critic is from this very word. It means to separate, distinguish, discriminate.” From – Robertson’s Word Pictures – a freebee on e-Sword.

…and

And by Paul in Rom 2:1-3 “Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.

But below it implies evaluation or examination, in this case for the purpose of church discipline – to maintain purity – holiness – “within.”

1Co 5:12 – 13 “For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “PUT AWAY FROM YOURSELVES THE EVIL PERSON.”

“PUT AWAY FROM YOURSELVES THE EVIL PERSON” – certainly implies remembering sin for the church “body” at least. Forgiving is necessary, punishing is limited to “shunning” (to put away) and the judging was Biblical.

“It must require discernment”

You use another krino word with the prefix “ana.” anakrino Stgs#350 – to examine, investigate, question – with ana, “up, or superior” It has a Holy Spirit element about it, necessary for validity.

1Co 2:15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.

There are folks I do not like to be around, Sarah – they make me uncomfortable and would probably hurt my reputation. Their attitudes may be contagious and I rarely feel edified. I am compelled to forgive them but their behavior is so predictable I don’t have to remember their past. Any time spent with them must be of an evangelical nature. Right? Yes, right !!